Saturday, August 3, 2013

La Virgen de Guadalupe altar,
photo taken in San Miguel de Allende by Rebecca Brooks.

Celebrate the December 12, 1531, miracle of La Virgen de Guadalupe in historic San Miguel de Allende this December 10-19, 2013. Discover what Our Lady of Guadalupe, the most beloved symbol of Mexico, represents for your personal life, with artist host, Rebecca Brooks on her LOVING LUPITA magical tour of Guadalupe festivals, Christmas posadas, processions, folk artisans, and colonial churches.

Laurie Beth Zuckerman will lead an optional two-day Memory Nicho workshop that will enhance your exploration of La Lupita, and dovetail perfectly with Rebecca's exciting excursions.

Laurie will guide you in creating a wooden shadowbox shrine (in Spanish: nicho) to contain all the symbols that have touched your soul in Mexico, and express your adoration of La Lupita. As the focal figure of your nicho, you will make a reverse-glass painting of the Guadalupe, employing the Medieval style used for painting sacred icons. Laurie will provide all the templates you will need to create your version of a traditional or contemporary image of La Lupita.

Inspired by Laurie's traditional memory jug techniques in her popular MEMORY JUGS BOOK, you will embellish your wooden altar with found-object adornments scavenged in the marketplaces of San Miguel, and from your personal treasure trove at home. Using paints and gilding, the entire surface of your nicho will develop a richly-textured patina, to mimic the antique gilded altars we will visit in San Miguel's famed colonial churches.

Laurie Beth Zuckerman created this nicho shrine
in honor of her mother, using a vintage Mexican shadowbox.
Photo by Laurie Zuckerman

Vintage foil and reverse glass-painting of La Virgen de Guadalupe,
on display in a Oaxacan restaurant. Photo by Laurie Zuckerman

I found this vintage Mexican reverse glass and foil painting of the Guadalupe in an antique store in Colorado years ago.Photo by Laurie Zuckerman

AND, just to wet your appetite for all things Guadalupe and Mexican, here are just a few of Laurie's photos of the Guadalupe church festival altars in Oaxaca, Mexico.

La Virgen de Guadalupe altar festival under construction by two altaristas
at the Nuestra Señora de las Nieves church in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Photo by Laurie Zuckerman

La Virgen de Guadalupe altar at the Nuestra Señora de las Nieves
church in Oaxaca, Mexico. Photo by Laurie Zuckerman

4 comments:

dear laurie,it seems we have been cultivating this dream to share lupita for years and i am thrilled this will be our year! i look forward to everything we will share and a chance to create shrines together in beloved mexico!i am so excited for all those who will be joining us in this soulful journey.

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's Memory Jugs Book provides detailed instructions for making traditional folk art memory jugs. CLICK on the book image to read more about this 255-page book with hundreds of color photographs. The Book CD is available for $20, plus $4 for shipping within the States. The book PDF file can be shared instantly with you via Dropbox sharing for $20. To inquire about shipping costs to your country, please email lauriebethzuckerman@gmail.com